Darden Restaurants (NYSE:DRI) had its price target reduced by Wells Fargo & Co from $120.00 to $117.00 in a report published on Tuesday morning, BenzingaRatingsTable reports. Wells Fargo & Co currently has a market perform rating on the restaurant operator’s stock.

DRI has been the topic of a number of other reports. UBS Group began coverage on shares of Darden Restaurants in a research report on Friday, April 26th. They set a buy rating and a $133.00 price target on the stock. Zacks Investment Research raised shares of Darden Restaurants from a hold rating to a buy rating and set a $133.00 price target on the stock in a research report on Thursday, May 9th. Wedbush lifted their price target on shares of Darden Restaurants from $120.00 to $130.00 and gave the stock a neutral rating in a research report on Thursday, May 23rd. Loop Capital lifted their price target on shares of Darden Restaurants to $140.00 and gave the stock a buy rating in a research report on Friday, March 22nd. Finally, BTIG Research lifted their price target on shares of Darden Restaurants to $134.00 and gave the stock a buy rating in a research report on Friday, March 22nd. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have assigned a hold rating and nineteen have assigned a buy rating to the stock. The company has an average rating of Buy and a consensus price target of $130.08.

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Shares of NYSE DRI opened at $119.03 on Tuesday. The firm has a market cap of $14.92 billion, a PE ratio of 24.75, a PEG ratio of 1.84 and a beta of 0.30. Darden Restaurants has a twelve month low of $91.34 and a twelve month high of $125.33. The company has a current ratio of 0.48, a quick ratio of 0.33 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.40.

Darden Restaurants (NYSE:DRI) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, March 21st. The restaurant operator reported $1.80 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.75 by $0.05. The company had revenue of $2.25 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $2.24 billion. Darden Restaurants had a net margin of 8.08% and a return on equity of 30.28%. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 5.5% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the firm posted $1.71 earnings per share. As a group, equities analysts anticipate that Darden Restaurants will post 5.78 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

In other Darden Restaurants news, SVP John W. Madonna sold 330 shares of Darden Restaurants stock in a transaction on Monday, March 25th. The shares were sold at an average price of $118.76, for a total value of $39,190.80. Following the sale, the senior vice president now directly owns 1,680 shares in the company, valued at approximately $199,516.80. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Also, insider Eugene I. Lee, Jr. sold 73,152 shares of Darden Restaurants stock in a transaction on Monday, March 25th. The shares were sold at an average price of $118.61, for a total transaction of $8,676,558.72. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now owns 190,025 shares in the company, valued at $22,538,865.25. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 0.65% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

A number of hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of DRI. Sageworth Trust Co acquired a new position in shares of Darden Restaurants during the 1st quarter worth about $25,000. NuWave Investment Management LLC increased its stake in shares of Darden Restaurants by 3,628.6% during the 1st quarter. NuWave Investment Management LLC now owns 261 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock worth $32,000 after purchasing an additional 254 shares during the last quarter. Fort L.P. acquired a new position in shares of Darden Restaurants during the 1st quarter worth about $35,000. Penserra Capital Management LLC acquired a new position in shares of Darden Restaurants during the 1st quarter worth about $40,000. Finally, Oregon Public Employees Retirement Fund increased its stake in shares of Darden Restaurants by 14,173.2% during the 4th quarter. Oregon Public Employees Retirement Fund now owns 4,131,508 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock worth $41,000 after purchasing an additional 4,102,562 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 88.86% of the company’s stock.

About Darden Restaurants

Darden Restaurants, Inc, through its subsidiaries, owns and operates full-service restaurants in the United States and Canada. As of May 27, 2018, it owned and operated approximately 1,746 restaurants under the Olive Garden, LongHorn Steakhouse, Cheddar's Scratch Kitchen, Yard House, The Capital Grille, Bahama Breeze, Seasons 52, and Eddie V's brands.